Stamp Out And About #687

April 18, 2018

Stampsy is the Music Director and Drive Announcer at K Rock in Geelong

Kristal Santos and her friend Jaeda Sky were enjoying a dance festival in Brazil. They were having the times of their lives. The sun was shining, and the tunes were loud.

That’s when Kristal took a video selfie. She spun around to capture the moment (because if it’s not on your Insta story it didn’t happen, right?).

At that moment a crime was taking place. It was happening to her, in plain sight of witnesses. It was so quick and so brazen, and it could happen to anyone. It could happen to you. Thankfully Kristal watched the video back, or this story could have had a completely different ending.

Kristal had her drink spiked. A man in the black t-shirt walked past her and slipped something into her cup… while it was IN HER OWN HAND! Her friend Jaeda uploaded the video to twitter as a warning to other party goers to always be mindful of your drink. It’s since had over 10 million views.

The whole incident took one second. One. That single second could have left Kristal very sick, or worse.

According to alcoholthinkagain.com.au, around half of drink spiking victims are under the age of 24 and 4 out of 5 are female. Between 20 and 30 per cent of incidents reported to police involve sexual assault. These numbers are alarming.

I’ve been a victim of drink spiking. I was at Uni and had driven my friends into town #responsibleadultlyf. We ordered our first round of vodka raspberry when our “jam” came on (please note it’s the early 2000’s so, “jam”). We had our drinks on a table about 10 metres from where we were dancing. That is the last thing I remember. The drug had no taste. It had no smell.

Because it was my first drink of the night my friends knew SOMETHING was up. I was falling over my own feet and I was making heaving sounds with my throat. They took me back to our unit and put me to bed. I was passed out for 16 hours. My mates tell me they were minutes away from calling an ambulance when I finally woke up. In the weeks following the spiking, I had short term memory loss.

It scared me, and it terrified my friends. When the shock subsided, I became a recluse. For months after the incident I found it hard to trust new people and to leave the comfort of my own home. A stranger, the lowest form of foot scum took advantage of me. They preyed on me and they took away my strength with their weakness. Unfortunately, the person was never caught.

I was incredibly lucky I was surrounded by a group of people who looked after my well-being. My friends made sure I was safe and cared for me in my recovery. So, I encourage you, avoid sharing drinks. If someone you don’t know well offers to buy you a drink, go to the bar with them. Just buy or pour your own drinks so you’re always vigilant of what goes in your cup and keep a protective eye over your friends drinks too.